I picked out some unusual paper colors to do Cooper’s portrait, a surprise gift from Maura Reilly to Diane and Michael Schurman. I felt this portrait of energetic Cooper called for a bold background color. I asked Maura whether Diane was someone who would appreciate getting a bit adventurous with color. Many clients would prefer something more conservative. These are the 6 Canson paper colors I was considering....
It’s always a bit stressful doing a portrait meant as a surprise for someone without having their input. I was a little apprehensive about getting too wild with a background color….a color Diane might either love or hate.
It was a tough decision to make. To help me visualize, I made Photoshop simulations to see how Cooper would look on these 6 colors. (Plus a few others I rejected.) There were a couple I was tempted to use, they would have been fun, but I just didn’t dare without Diane's "go-ahead". In the end I felt the "Anise" (yellow-green) was the best. I presented the 6 Photoshop simulations to Maura and tried not to sway her toward Anise, but she too felt that was the best choice.
Here are the 6 Photoshop simulations I made to see how Cooper looked on these colors.
See my previous post for the photo of energetic Cooper that I’ll be using as reference for this portrait, and to read the beautiful story Diane wrote about this special boy.
